GOP Platform: End Ethanol Mandates

The GOP shook up the corn-based ethanol industry and corn growers after adopting new official Republican platform language calling for free-market utilization of ethanol rather than the federally mandated renewable fuels standard supported by the Bush administration and crop producers in the rural heartland, Farm Progress Friday reported.

The GOP platform says, “The U.S. government should end mandates for ethanol and let the free market work. We must continue to develop alternative fuels, such as biofuels, especially cellulosic ethanol, and hasten their technological advances to next- generation production.”
The position marks a major change from the 2004 platform, which supported expanding the use of ethanol as a way to reduce dependence on foreign oil and increase revenues for farmers.